I needed to move on with my life. I couldn’t spend my days, waiting around for a goddess from another planet to call me back to her world. Besides, if she did I would no doubt have to do something extremely dangerous for her. That didn’t bother me as much as it should have. On the contrary, I was excited by the prospect.
“Chill out, Jake,” I said to myself and poured the coffee. “Be present, be patient, and above all else, be grateful such an extraordinary thing even happened in the first place.”
Some people went their entire lives without doing anything extraordinary. They lived vicariously through TV, video games, and books, and while that was all fine and good, I had experienced something real, something unique, something magical. I’d found adventure, friendship, and love.
What else could a man ask for?
I put thoughts of Tarth aside and visited my parents. I gave my mother the biggest diamond of them all, telling her I had found it in the woods while on a hike. She didn’t believe me, but she accepted it all the same. Then, thinking of Scarlett, I spent the rest of the day mailing diamonds to various boys’ and girls’ homes across the country, and a few local churches I knew did good work.
I kept seven stones for myself, because why not? They would pay off my college loans and buy me a nice car to boot. On Tarth I was the Lord of Myrwood Manor, wherever the hell that was, and if I ever returned, I would be a rich man.
I picked up Michelle that night and took her to dinner. We had a good time, but it was hard to look at her without thinking about Scarlett and Eva. She noticed it too, so I told her all about my adventures on Tarth.
She didn’t believe me, of course, and the only way to save face was to tell her it was a story I was writing on the side. She seemed to accept that explanation, and when I dropped her off, she asked if I wanted to spend Memorial Day at her family’s place on the lake. I said yes.
When I got home that night, I smoked a joint and drank a six pack of India pale ale while sitting on the deck, staring at Lake George. I reminisced late into the night, laughing aloud more than once and surely making the neighbors wonder about my sanity.
What a fucking ride, I thought as I nodded off late that night. Maybe I’ll wake up and see the ringed planet in the north. Maybe Scarlett and Eva will be there, and Doughboy too. Maybe Celesta will call upon her champion one more time...
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